Dead Men Tell No Tales - Details: Story, Characters and Setting

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"Gentlemen, the time has come! Our salvation is nigh! Our torment is near an end..."- Captain Barbossa

To quote Captain Jack Sparrow himself, "We have our heading!" Yes, dear friends, the time has indeed come. After several delays, the fifth installment of the Pirates franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, has (at last!) officially begun production. Principal photography started in Australia only a few weeks ago, which I semi-covered in this blog. For those not wanting to read the comments (somewhat understandable), I should at least post some of the information, which you'll see later. But first, let's look into the official details of Captain Jack's latest adventure...

The StoryWhen Disney officially announced that production has begun on February 17, they also provided the synopsis:

Thrust into an all-new adventure, a down-on-his-luck Captain Jack Sparrow finds the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost pirates led by his old nemesis, the terrifying Captain Salazar, escape from the Devil's Triangle, determined to kill every pirate at sea... including him. Captain Jack's only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artifact that bestows upon its possessor total control over the seas.

While majority of this info is semi-new, there was a "Trident of Poseidon" in the eleventh and twelfth books of the Jack Sparrow young readers series. It has yet to be confirmed if the books are non-canon, or if this may be a play on whose trident is who's. All contradictions and conspiracies aside...Wow, a powerful trident in the Pirates universe!

Among the new faces in the latest Pirates installment are Javier Bardem as Captain Salazar, Kaya Scodelario (reported as the female lead), Brenton Thwaites (who, according to reports, will portray a British soldier named "Henry"), and Golshifteh Farahani.

Not confirmed by Disney, but confirmed on set, is Martin Klebba as Marty! While we know the dwarf pirate is back, it is unknown if other crewmembers of the Black Pearl (or the Queen Anne's Revenge) are set for an appearance. One even wonders if Penélope Cruz will return as Angelica, especially since her husband (Bardem) is one of the confirmed actors in the film. It is known that (back in November 2014) that Pintel and Ragetti were potentially on the roster; Lee Arenberg had high hopes for a return, and Mackenzie Crook did confirm that he had a "call about availability" for both fourth and fifth Pirates films (not to mention that he had previously said he was available!)...curiouser and curiouser. Who knows what's going on there?

According to Variety, three actors have joined the cast: Adam Brown, Delroy Atkinson and Danny Kirrane have joined the cast. Alongside the main cast, extras have been sorted into three categories: Pirates, villagers and British soldiers.

CrewDead Men Tell No Tales is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Jeff Nathanson. The executive producers are Chad Oman, Joe Caracciolo, Jr. and Brigham Taylor. At the helm are Norwegian directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, who are better known for bringing us their own seafaring film, Kon-Tiki. With Kon-Tiki being nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, it is safe to say Pirates 5 is in good hands.

Joining the swashbuckling new voyage is a first-tier group of award-winning behind-the-scenes artists—many of them new to the Pirates of the Caribbean family—including director of photography Paul Cameron (Gone in Sixty Seconds, Déjà Vu, Collateral), production designer Nigel Phelps (Pearl Harbor, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, World War Z), costume designer Penny Rose (all four Pirates films), visual effects supervisor Gary Brozenich (The Lone Ranger, Edge of Tomorrow), Oscar®-winning special effects production consultant John Frazier (nine Jerry Bruckheimer films and dozens of others) and special effects supervisor Dan Oliver (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), supervising stunt coordinator R.A. Rondell (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1) and stunt coordinators Thomas Robinson Harper (Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and Kyle Gardiner (San Andreas, Kingsman: The Secret Service), Academy Award®-winning makeup and hair designer Peter Swords King (The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, Into the Woods) and film editors Joel Cox (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, American Sniper) and Gary D. Roach (American Sniper).

As of February 2015, it seems that Executive Producer Mike Stenson and EP/Writer Terry Rossio are no longer associated with the Pirates franchise. Despite this, for unknown reasons, their names are currently listed under Pirates of the Caribbean 5 on Rossio's website, Wordplayer. More than likely it may be that the site has yet to be updated.

The Set
While directors Rønning and Sandberg had previously stated New Orleans and Puerto Rico as filming locations, it's been confirmed that production will take place entirely at Village Roadshow Studios and on locations within Queensland, Australia...making the film the largest production to ever shoot in the country. Ship scenes were filmed in front of a giant outdoor greenscreen in Helensvale, while a film set in the form of a village was built in Maudsland.

And that's all the official information presented so far! :)

Oh, and remember that blog I mentioned at the beginning...one that had many additional information regarding the film. Well, you're in luck, as the blog's comments had interesting tid-bits, some being the numerous sights to behold straight from the set:Note: Courtesy of several super-awesome Wiki users that were able to share some juicy updates I tend to miss.

Someone posted a fan-video containing images from the set, with a particularly good peek at Joshamee Gibbs, Marty (and possibly Scrum?), with the extras at the 1:00 mark.

While we're in the crew-related discussion, I regret to inform all, Pintel (more than likely Ragetti too) may not be returning. Thought it was a ruse at first, but after fact checking (I only saw posts from February 11 and 24)... On the plus side, he's pretty bummed about it so there's always the slight ray of hope that Disney is smart enough to change their minds and add our favorite duo to the roster. I mean...the movie doesn't come out for 2 years, for Calypso's sake! That's plenty of time to say, "What are we thinking?" and decide to include them. But alas, if only...

Already in the video above, but there are 2 ship/sets are being built: one is the Queen Anne's Revenge (small note: no idea where the Sunset is) and the second ship is new - a British ship? Captain Salazar's ship? Hmm...

The latest from Master Gibbs on Twitter:February 17: #potc5 Well I've done 4 of these monoliths and this has to be the biggest one yet! #largestsetiveeverseen #biggestcrewiveeverseenFebruary 20: #Potc5 Another great day on no. 5 with the art department putting together another finely detailed set for our days work.

And that's pretty much all the relevant information (not including more pictures, as we will undoubtedly get) I found hopefully fitting for this blog. If you were curious as to if there's more, or if you just like reading my twaddle-speak, consider visiting the blog...and stuff. In addition, I also like to thank the Wiki users who commented on my last blog and POTC fans that were willing to share these updates online - you guys are awesome!

Last but not least, posting because I'm sure it's going to be brought up...Rumors to the contrary, neither Orlando Bloom nor the Will Turner character are confirmed to appear in the film as of yet. There have been several points spoken about a plot about the character (and his son?), but in reality it could mean anything related to the Pirates franchise...especially when Bloom himself used the word "reboot" in his most recent comments. Or maybe it could mean nothing at all. It's not impossible but I wouldn't have my hopes too high for either scenario. For now, my hope is—assuming it's true!— perhaps, a new series of spin-off films or a TV show...kinda unlikely, but it would help expand both the universe and the franchise ala the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Dead Men Tell No Tales is set for release on July 7, 2017. Stay tuned for more news and updates!